Whistling floating roly-poly toy



March 31, 1964 R. 1.. GAUSEWITZ WHISTLING FLOATING ROLY-POLY TOY Filed May 8 -4 INVENTOR.

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United States Patent 3,126,669 WHISTLING FLOATING ROLY-POLY TOY Richard L. Gausewitz, Orange, Calif. (11592 Forum Way, Santa Ana, Calif.) Filed May 8, 1959, Ser. No. 812,039 8 Claims. (Cl. 4691) This invention relates to a toy which is a noise-making roly-poly on land, and an unsinkable whistling roly-poly in the water, being adapted primarily for infants and pre-schoolers.

The object of the invention is to provide a relatively simple and inexpensive toy having great play appeal and a wide variety of uses both on land and in water, and which is adapted to be played with by children through a relatively wide age group.

The invention will be described with reference to the attached drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a toy incorporating the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical section on line 2-2 of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken on line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary horizontal section on line 44 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary vertical section corresponding to the lower part of the showing of FIGURE 2, but illustrating a second embodiment in which means are provided for making a noise like that of a ships bell.

The toy comprises a generally hemispherical bottom section and a top section 11, the latter being illustrated as shaped to represent a tugboat. The sections 10 and 11 are formed of a suitable plastic, such as polystyrene, and define a chamber which is substantially sealed except at points to be indicated subsequently. The sections are suitably joined together, as by adhesive, at the equatorial line 12.

A whistle 13 is press-fitted in the Smokestack portion of the top section, and comprises the only means by which air may enter or leave the chamber when the bottom section 10 is under water. The whistle comprises a pair of spaced, generally parallel discs having round openings 14 in their centers. The whistle is preferably formed of aluminum or other rust-proof metal. It sounds upon passage of air in either direction through openings 14.

A substantial number of openings 16 are formed in the lower portion of bottom section 10, being adapted to permit rapid flow of water into and out of the chamber. The openings 16 are sufliciently small that they will not interfere with rolling operation of the toy as a roly-poly when on land. The openings 16 are located in the lower portion of the bottom section 10, and have combined cross-sectional areas which are sufficiently great that water will dump out of the chamber rapidly, in about a second or less, when the toy is lifted suddenly out of the water from normal floating position. Such rapid dumping will not occur smoothly, however, unless the openings 14 in the whistle are also relatively large in cross-sectional area, to permit rapid inflow of air.

The smooth and rapid inflow of air and dumping of water are important since a small infant might have difficulty in lifting the toy out of the water if he also had to lift the weight of water in the toy. Furthermore, the water flow must be rapid to provide a relatively loud, sensitive and low-pitched whistle action when the toy is lifted out of the water, when it is dropped or pushed into the water, and when it is moved while in the water.

Weight means are provided in the center portion of bottom section 10, and comprise a quantity of sand or 3,126,669 Patented Mar. 31, 1964 small rocks 17 enclosed by an annular side wall 18 which is formed integral with the bottom section. A cover 19 is mounted over the side wall 18 to prevent escape of the sand, but it is not necessary to glue the cover in position. This is because the cover is held down by combination cage and spacer members 21 which both hold the cover down and hold a float 22 up. The cage and spacer members comprise a plurality of upwardlyextending prongs formed integral with the cover 19 and projecting into the underside of the float 22 as will be described.

Float 22 comprises a block of expanded plastic, such as expanded polystyrene, which is very light and which is readily susceptible of being penetrated. The upper surface of the block seats against brackets 23 which extend downwardly from the top section 11 and are integral therewith. The main body of the float is in the lower portion of the chamber, below equatorial line 12, the relationship being such that the water line will be approximately at the equatorial line.

Noisemaker means are provided within the cage, and are illustrated as comprising a marble 24, such marble also having the effect of decreasing the stability of the toy when on land so that the roly-poly action is improved.

As a specific example, the diameter of the bottom section may be about five to six inches, and the total weight of plastic in the toy may be about 4 ounces. The sand 1.7 may weigh approximately 2 or 3 ounces, and the float may be a block of expanded polystyrene having a dimension of 3" x4 x l. The whistle 13 may be an aluminum whistle 1 inches in outer diameter and having openings 14 which are 4 inch in diameter. The openings 16 may have combined cross-sectional areas on the order of 4 square inches.

Operation When used on land, the toy operates as a roly-poly, causing the upper portion 11 to rock and pitch in the nature of a boat. A rattling noise is made by the marble 24 as it rolls around in its cage. Infants may introduce their fingers through the openings 16 to feel the cage and the marble therein. Furthermore, infants and children may place their mouths over the smokestack and blow the whistle.

Let it next be assumed that the toy is merely tossed into a body of water, such as a bath tub or play pool. If the toy lights on its side, the weight 17 will effect immediate righting of the toy and cause the openings 16 to be submerged. The toy will then sink rapidly until the float 22 takes over and causes the toy to float with the water line at the equatorial line 12. Such rapid sinking effects rapid expulsion of air through the whistle openings 14 and effects loud and clear sounding of such whistle. It is emphasized that the chamber, both the upper and lower portions thereof, communicates with the whistle 14 in free-flow relationship.

While the toy is in the water, it will whistle every time the child pushes, pulls or bats it. Pushing on the toy downwardly causes lowering thereof in the water, so that additional air is expelled through the whistle. Pulling upwardly on the toy, such as at the smokestack, causes substantially immediate outflow of water through openings 16 with consequent introduction of air through the whistle openings 14 to sound the whistle.

When the child forces the toy completely under water, and then lets go, the float 22 will cause the toy to move upwardly until the water line is again at the equatorial line 12. Thus, as the top section 11 emerges from the water, air is drawn in through the whistle to effect an automatic whistle noise. Should the child completely submerge the toy in inverted position, the weight 17 will cause the toy to right itself as it emerges. noise will also result in this situation.

When the infant or child rapidly lifts the toy out of the water, as by jerking upwardly on the smokestack, the rapid dumping of water through openings 16 causes rapid inflow of air through openings 14 to sound the whistle loudly. As previously pointed out, the water dumps so smoothly and rapidly that the child has relatively little weight of water to lift, so that the toy may be operated by a small infant. What little water remains to be dumped after the openings 16 clear the water provides an entertaining effect, since the child likes to watch the remnants of the Water flow out through the openings 16 with a waterfall effect. When the child again drops the toy in the water, a loud whistle noise results when the openings 16 strike the water, due to the sudden expulsion of air through openings 14.

The described rust-proof and unsinkable toy is very simple and economical to manufacture and assemble. As stated, the brackets 23 are molded integral with top section 11. The cover 19 and connected cage or spacer members 21 may be family molded with one or both of the top and bottom sections 11 and 10. During assembly, the whistle 13 is press-fitted in the Smokestack, and the float 22 is seated in brackets 23 which are so constructed as to provide a retaining action preventing dropping of the float therefrom. A quantity of sand is then dropped into the sand chamber, cover 19 is mounted thereon, and the marble 24 is dropped into the cage.

Adhesive is then applied to the lower rim of top section 11, as by dipping such rim in an annular adhesive container which provides clearance for the float 22 in order to prevent contact of the float with adhesive, after which the top section is merely seated on the bottom section. Such seating causes the upper and preferably pointed ends of cage members 21 to extend into the soft float material. All parts are thus rigidly locked in position after the adhesive has dried. Suitable spraying operations may then be employed to appropriately decorate the top section 11, it being understood that the bottom section 10 should be formed of blue plastic to represent the water.

Embodiment FIGURE Except as will be specifically stated, the embodiment of FIGURE 5 may be identical to that of FIGURES 1-4.

In this embodiment, the weight cover 19a is formed upwardly convex, and has a central clearance opening 30. Radial ridges 31 may be provided to urge the marble toward opening 30 when the toy rocks.

The sand 17 is eliminated and replaced by a discshaped metal weight 32 which is press-fitted or adhesively secured in annular wall 18. Weight 32 may be formed of cast iron or mild steel, and may be dipped in lacquer.

A fixed-free vibrating metal tine 33 is rigidly anchored in a central hole in disc 32. It projects upwardly and freely through clearance opening 30 and through an opening 34 in the float 22.

Tine 33 is set in vibration when struck by marble 24 due to rocking of the toy while on land. The vibrations travel through weight 32 to the plastic 10, which acts as a sounding board. A relatively loud and sustained ships bell effect is thus produced, to complement the ships whistle effect of whistle 13.

The term float, as employed in the present specification and claims, denotes buoyantly remaining at a constant elevation in a surrounding body of water. Thus, a toy which is settling or descending in the water, even very slowly, is not floating as the terms is herein employed.

Various embodiments of the present invention, in addition to what has been illustrated and described in detail, may be employed without departing from the scope of the accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. A combination roly-poly and floating toy for children, which comprises light-weight wall means to define A whistle a substantially sealed chamber, said wall means having an upper portion and a rounded lower portion shaped to cause the toy to have a roly-poly action, said lower portion being substantially continuous except for lower opening means formed therein for inflow of water into said chamber and outflow of Water therefrom, said lower opening means being shaped and located to prevent interference with roly-poly operation of said lower portion on land, means to effect floating of said wall means, childentertaining whistle means responsive to air flow and mounted on said upper portion, upper opening means formed in said upper portion to admit air into said chamber and permit expulsion of air therefrom, said upper opening means and said child-entertaining whistle means being so related that substantially all air passing in at least one direction between said chamber and the ambient atmosphere while said wall means is in floating condition must flow through said child-entertaining whistle means, and weight means provided in said lower portion to cause floating of the toy in upright position and to effect a roly-poly action while the toy is employed on land, said Weight means and the exterior contour of said lower portion being so related to the shape and weight of said wall means that the toy will operate effectively on land as a roly-poly.

2. The invention as claimed in claim 1, in which said child-entertaining whistle means is a highly-sensitive twoway whistle formed of two spaced sheets having registered openings therein.

3. The invention as claimed in claim 1, in which said means to effect floating of said wall means is at least one buoyant element, said element being adapted to cause said wall means to float with said upper opening means and child-entertaining means a substantial distance above the body of Water in which said wall means is floating.

4. An unsinkable floating Whistling roly-poly toy, which comprises light-weight Wall means to define a substantially sealed chamber, said wall means including a generally hemispherical lower section and an upper section shaped to represent an object attractive to a child, said upper section having port means formed in the upper part thereof, a highly-sensitive whistle mounted on said upper section and over said port means whereby all air entering and leaving said upper section while said lower section is submerged must flow through said whistle, weight means provided in said lower section and centrally thereof to provide a roly-poly action while the toy is employed on land and to effect floating of the toy in upright condition while the toy is employed in water, opening means provided in said lower section adjacent said weight means to effect rapid inflow and outflow of water relative to the chamber, at least one float disposed in said chamber and adapted to maintain said wall means and said weight means afloat when said opening means provided in said lower section are submerged in water, and means to position said float in such manner that said float effects floating of the toy in the water at a relatively high elevation with said Whistle spaced a substantial distance above the water level, and in such man ner that said float and the water in said lower section when submerged may not block the flow of air to said whistle.

5. A combination roly-poly and water toy, which comprises wall means to define a substantially sealed chamber, said wall means being sufficiently small and light to be readily lifted by a child even when said chamber is full of water, said wall means having a smoothly rounded lower portion shaped to cause roly-poly operation of the toy both on land and on the surface of a body of water such as in a bathtub or play pool, weight means mounted substantially fixedly in said lower portion, the center of gravity of said Weight means being located generally correspondingly to the center of said lower portion, said weight means being sufliciently heavy to cause said toy to have a roly-poly action on land and on the surface of the water, first opening means provided in said lower portion of said wall means, said first opening means being sufliciently small to prevent substantial interference with roly-poly operation of the toy on land, said first opening means also being sufficiently small to prevent substantial interference with roly-poly operation of the toy on the surface of a body of water at least during initial righting of the toy by said weight means after the toy has been dropped on its side or upside-down on said surface, second opening means provided in the upper portion of said wall means and spaced a substantial distance above said first opening means when said toy is in upright condition, and child-entertaining whistle means responsive to air flow through said second opening means in at least one direction to create a child-entertaining effect, said childentertaining whistle means being so related to said opening means that it will operate in response to air flow through said second opening means caused by vertical movement of said toy in said body of water and consequent flow of water through said first opening means.

6. The invention as claimed in claim 5, in which said child-entertaining means is a two-way doubledisc whistle adapted to sound in response to flow of air through said second opening means due to flow of water through said first opening means as said toy moves vertically in said body of water.

7. The invention as claimed in claim 5, in which buoyant means independent of air trapped in said chamber are associated with said wall means to effect floating of said toy in upright condition with said child-entertaining means disposed a substantial distance above the surface of said body of water, said buoyant means being sufficiently large and light to render the toy unsinkable.

8. The invention as claimed in claim 5, in which said lower portion of said wall means is a hemisphere, and in which all portions of said first opening means are spaced a substantial distance from the equator of said hemisphere and located relatively adjacent the pole thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 980,667 Owen Jan. 3, 1911 1,187,838 Hughes June 20, 1916 1,681,878 Prince Aug. 21, 1928 2,032,192 Wheeler Feb. 25, 1936 2,403,531 Hoover et al. July 9, 1946 2,519,324 Smith Aug. 15, 1950 2,577,343 Martin Dec. 4, 1951 2,779,062 Stastny Jan. 29, 1957 2,919,919 Ebb Jan. 5, 1960 

1. A COMBINATION ROLY-POLY AND FLOATING TOY FOR CHILDREN, WHICH COMPRISES LIGHT-WEIGHT WALL MEANS TO DEFINE A SUBSTANTIALLY SEALED CHAMBER, SAID WALL MEANS HAVING AN UPPER PORTION AND A ROUNDED LOWER PORTION SHAPED TO CAUSE THE TOY TO HAVE A ROLY-POLY ACTION, SAID LOWER PORTION BEING SUBSTANTIALLY CONTINUOUS EXCEPT FOR LOWER OPENING MEANS FORMED THEREIN FOR INFLOW OF WATER INTO SAID CHAMBER AND OUTFLOW OF WATER THEREFROM, SAID LOWER OPENING MEANS BEING SHAPED AND LOCATED TO PREVENT INTERFERENCE WITH ROLY-POLY OPERATION OF SAID LOWER PORTION ON LAND, MEANS TO EFFECT FLOATING OF SAID WALL MEANS, CHILDENTERTAINING WHISTLE MEANS RESPONSIVE TO AIR FLOW AND MOUNTED ON SAID UPPER PORTION, UPPER OPENING MEANS FORMED IN SAID UPPER PORTION TO ADMIT AIR INTO SAID CHAMBER AND PERMIT EXPULSION OF AIR THEREFORM, SAID UPPER OPENING MEANS AND SAID CHILD-ENTERTAINING WHISTLE MEANS BEING SO RELATED THAT SUBSTANTIALLY ALL AIR PASSING IN AT LEAST ONE DIRECTION BETWEEN SAID CHAMBER AND THE AMBIENT ATMOSPHERE WHILE SAID WALL MEANS IS IN FLOATING CONDITION MUST FLOW THROUGH SAID CHILD-ENTERTAINING WHISTLE MEANS, AND WEIGHT MEANS PROVIDED IN SAID LOWER PORTION TO CAUSE FLOATING OF THE TOY IN UPRIGHT POSITION AND TO EFFECT A ROLY-POLY ACTION WHILE THE TOY IS EMPLOYED ON LAND, SAID WEIGHT MEANS AND THE EXTERIOR CONTOUR OF SAID LOWER PORTION BEING SO RELATED TO THE SHAPE AND WEIGHT OF SAID WALL MEANS THAT THE TOY WILL OPERATE EFFECTIVELY ON LAND AS A ROLY-POLY. 